yonny

I had Shimi Long Casts which were very good, but my current Infinity BRs are better I reckon. I do like my old school work-horse type reels. Have a search for the Daiwa Procargo SS4500. It is the none European version of the Castizm, exactly the same except it has a better UTD drag and a different handle. You can get them imported from Japan or Australia for less than the price of the Castizm if you find a particularly good deal, in fact a saw a guy on another forum got them for 140 a pop!!

It still wont let me!

I use bait runners but don't engage the drag by turning the handle, I use the switch on the back. That is surely the quickest option?

Well that answers that then. Judging by the responses I'd guess that if you considered pricing your time even at minimum wage you'd probs be making a loss? I make my own hookbaits and tbh it really does my head in (hand rolling corkers and forming little bits of fake corn from pop up mix lol) so I can't see myself rolling big batches of bait if it doesn't present a saving. I can imagine the satisfaction of catching a biggun on a custom home rolled boilie is spot on but I think I'm just too lazy!

Guys. I'm trying to work out if the savings made by rolling your own baits are really worth it. I mean, it all depends on what you value your time at surely? I figured we could have a go at working out what it actually costs us in time on a £ p/hr basis, add it to the cost of the ingredients, and see what we're actually saving? First thing we need to know is how long it takes to prep, roll, boil and clean up for say 20 kg. Over to you lads.

I hear they are fella, but I haven't bought/seen shelfies in years myself. In fairness that's just me being stubborn I guess. See for me that's not a shelfie bud. IMO a shelfie contains preservatives that allow the baits to be stored in the boot of the car for a couple of years or more. The above is a fresh/frozen bait with glycerin coating - I wouldn't trust that for prolonged periods. A decent bait has to be active, and a glycerin coating shouldn't be enough to stop that activity. I know of at least one bait company that adds preservatives to both their shelfies and frozen baits, some think it's the same recipe.....

Yo Beanz, I'm trying to PM you but it won't let me. Is your inbox full?

I think there's a place for partial air drying in order to prep baits for over-hydration i.e. saturation - to prevent the on-take of silt on very silty waters or spots. Also for salt curing hook baits. I'd rather air dry/re-hydrate for a long trip than use shelfies. As long as you know what to re-hydrate with the losses of attractors (which I do believe happens during air drying) doesn't really bother me.

You've answered your own question there fella. The point in a baitrunner is you don't have to do that. I agree with chillfactor, it makes little difference if you use a baitrunner or front drag - different mechanism, same result.

Yes it could indeed mate. I've been toying with the idea of replacing my Delks for a little while but frankly there's nothing out there 100% faultless to replace them with......

I have heard from 2 owners that fluoro skips over the rollers. No issues with normal mono though (odd, I thought). Apart from that I too have heard rave reviews.

Spot on. I still carry one in my kit for when my Delks go wrong in the rain (which luckily aint happened in a couple of years now after having mega problems previously). The micron M's cost me 20 quid a piece, I've replaced the batteries once in maybe 20 odd years. Outperforms my £500 Delks in the rain. Ridiculous.

They're all absolutely rubbish fella! On average I go through about 4 a year and believe me when I say I've been through all of them. - The ESP lasts quite well but the pouch warps rendering accuracy none existent. Then the elastic goes. - The Atomic lasts well but the pouches aint strong enough, they rip along the fibres and seams. - Drennan, the elastic aint as good as other carp 'pults, it goes in no time. - Fox - DO NOT EVEN GO THERE! If you have one last a whole session you're lucky. - Gardner, same as the Drennan, the elastic aint up to proper use. - Black Widows do last forever but the pouch isn't suitable for bait (and it's almost impossible to change it). So the winner is (and I never thought I'd say this).... the Korda heavy duty one. It's pretty average for accuracy and for distance but it does last better than the others. The weak point is where the elastic connects to the pouch and it has cable ties on to hold it in place. These can easily be replaced when they break (and they do) so it lasts quite well. My current one has lasted all season so far which is unheard of for me. Don't get me wrong, it's still rubbish (I've had to replace the cable ties twice already), but it's still going which is all I ask!

Agree 100%.

What do you guys use to clean your fluoro leaders?

I have to agree that 200 quid simply isn't enough to set you up for carp angling - definitely not if you're looking to fish for 30s and 40s safely. There are normally plenty of full set-ups going second hand on ebay but even then you'll be looking at about 500 quid minimum, and that will be low to mid range quality kit at best. Worth a look though, I do see some mega bargains from time to time. It pains me to say it but it's not cheap this carp angling game....

Korda lines are relatively poor IMO. Stick with Gardner, they do great lines. The Pro and GT-HD options are really nice lines. Yes, keep the old line as backing, it's a complete waste of money otherwise.

That draws a close to the testing fella. I foresee what will happen now is I'll keep them in my tackle box "for emergencies" and then bin them in about 2 years lol...... Nah, they'll just think I'm some nut job carp freak playing with hooks in a lab at work. In fairness they'd be about right.

Back home and had a really good look at each hook under X20. Pros: Out of the packet the chods are definitely sharper than any other hooks I have on hand (but not by a huge margin). The curves are even better (but still not perfect). Cons: The positioning of the flats on the hookpoints points is slightly different on each hook, and none of them are in a position that makes them easy to sharpen. This means a sharpening vice cannot easily be used; you'd have to do it all by hand which is frankly a nightmare. I'm not even going to attempt it - on the curve shanks two of the three flats are inside the gape (where the barb is) so you can't even access them with the stone/file. The positioning of the flats on the chods seems almost random. The 'miss-shaped ground flats' I mentioned on the chods under X10 is actually physical damage. It is located in exactly the same place on both chod hooks, on the edge of one of the flats. Closer inspection of the curves found the same damage on 2 of those, again, in exactly the same place.That indicates the hooks are orientated when the damage occurs, which suggests they're tool marks from the forming process. Does this effect sharpness? No, but it still looks a little rough. I suspect it sticks out simply because of the presence of the flats (i.e. if there were no flats you wouldn't be able to see the damage) but I checked through a whole pack of Atomics and couldn't see anything even slightly resembling similar damage. I've seen enough. The conclusion is that if you're happy to use hooks straight from the packet than these are well worth checking out. Very sharp hooks indeed. If you're completely obsessed with honing your hooks to absolute perfection, like me, these are not the hooks you're looking for.

There'll be other updates before they go anywhere near the pond fella. Just had them sectioned/mounted and hardness tested in my lab. They come out at approximately HV 670 which is very hard, yet not hard enough to be brittle, which is very promising indeed. No signs of decarburisation, they are heat treated very well.

I have indeed. i would put my own up against the ones you pay for any day. I've been doing it a fair while though.....

Try again..... OK, so they arrived. Initial impressions: They are sharper than your average hook, no doubt. But, I can see under X 10 magnification that they're still not sharp enough. Of the 10 chod hooks, I wouldn't cast any out with no sharpening, of the 10 curve shanks 2 look very, very sharp indeed (maybe sharp enough to fish with). They are inconsistent, the shape of the hookpoints and particularly the ground flats differ. 2 of the chod hooks are miss-shaped over the ground flats (but still look pretty sharp). The finish (colour/texture) doesn't look fantastic but that's not a massive concern for me. The end of the wire at the eye of the hook is sealed with epoxy - this looks fantastic, and is very consistent. All hooks are 'sticky' sharp. All pass the nail test. But, I can see they're not quite up to the standard I require. When I get home I'll have a look under X20 magnification and update. They do look like a quick brush of the sharpening stone will get them absolutely perfect.

OK, so they arrived. Initial impressions: They are sharper than your average hook, no doubt. But, I can see under X 10 magnification that they're still not sharp enough. Of the 10 chod hooks, I

If you believe what you read they're using the same sharpening process used for syringes so we should very much expect comparable results. Syringes are manufactured in similar qty's to hooks too (i.e. loads 'n loads) so my initial doubts about process control for mass production could be unfounded. However, syringes are manufactured from stainless steel, not carbon steel, like hooks. I don't really know what impact, if any, this will have (my expertise is in metal forming and finishing, not sharpening). The blurb about the special material is complete rubbish - all they have to do get away with that statement is reduce or increase the specified acceptable level of a single none critical chemical element by 0.001% and they're effectively using a 'special' material where in reality it's completely standard. Never the less, the sharpening process excites me. I'll be going to town on these fella, don't you worry! Likewise - I find hooks that see no action need touching up after 24 hrs submerged so that interests me too.

The order has been shipped so hope to receive them today/tomorrow.